Flickinger Glassworks Newsletter |
|
Our brief newsletter about Red Hook, Brooklyn...
and other people, places & things we think you should know about.
Welcome to the April edition.
This month we give a shout-out to an organization that every craftsperson in NYC should know about. We share a project hot from the kilns of Flickinger Glassworks. And we again shamelessly plug Koho Yamamoto’s wonderful painting exhibit currently on display at the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, Queens.
|
|
The Craftspeople who Stuck Together |
|
Executive Director Victoria Dengel, who served as a past president, as did her father, speaks passionately for the General Society and its programs. |
|
In 1785, in an effort to improve their arduous lives, a handful of NYC craftsmen got together to form the General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen of the City of New York. The group included a shoemaker, hatter, blacksmith, bricklayer, stonecutter, tailor, block-maker, cutler, saddler, tobacconist, mason, tanner, comb-maker, silversmith, cooper, block-maker, tallow chandler, three carpenters and a coach-maker. Although coach-makers are no longer in demand, the General Society, located at 20 West 44th Street, is still vital and still looking after the mechanics and tradespeople of this city.
So if you are someone who works with your hands, it’s good to know about its offerings. This includes tuition-free educational opportunities: Last year, for example, seventy students graduated with degrees in construction project management, plumbing design and electrical technology. It also presents a yearly lecture series: Recent ones featured the influential architect Sanford White; the craft and history of golf by artisan Tim Alpaugh; and a wildly entertaining presentation on, yes, steam heat by expert Dan Holohan. Even Red Hook’s own Sohui Kim (co-owner/chef of The Good Fork, Insa, and Gage & Tollner) has shared her take on Korean home cooking.
Another good reason to join the General Society is for access to its library trove. As the second-oldest continuously operating library in NYC, it houses more than 100,000 volumes of fiction, non-fiction, trade and research materials. Or just stop by to read the paper. Inside it feels like a sanctuary.
|
|
A gorgeous view of The General Society's massive library. |
|
Josh Matthews shares how the glass drum came to life. |
|
Nothing sounds quite like a glass drum riff. Which is why Josh Matthews, a member of Blue Man Group and a former employee of Flickinger Glassworks, is using our shop to perfect a new series of bent glass snare drums for his adventurous playing. Please watch this short video where he explains his process.
|
|
Koho standing next to one of her paintings (top left); Curator Dakin Hart pointing out brush strokes (top right); Koho and Charles (bottom)
Photo credit: Randy Duchaine
|
|
Charles Flickinger was among the guests who attended the opening of Koho Yamamoto: Under a Dark Moon,” a solo gallery exhibit at the Noguchi Museum highlighting ten of Koho’s bold and abstract black ink paintings. Curator Dakin Hart calls them “sublime interior landscapes.” Flickinger says, “I couldn’t have felt happier for my longtime painting teacher and friend, who turns 99 next week.”
“Koho Yamamoto: Under a Dark Moon” runs to May 23. To book your visit, please go to noguchi.org to make a timed-entry reservation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
